"Selena!" Conner's voice echoed through my ears.
I rolled over in my bed, opening my mouth and letting out an irritated noise.
The bed bounced as Conner leaped onto the mattress next to me. "S! School time!" He sang into my ear.
I realized that he either didn't know that I had caught him spying on me, or he wasn't showing that he did. One thing was for sure, I was definitely not looking forward to sitting alone with him in silence as we drove to school.
"Come on S! We're gonna be late!" He grabbed onto my feet and started to pull me off the bed.
I opened my eyes, looked around distractedly, trying to look anywhere but into his green eyes. "Oh, uhhh, well I was going to get a ride from Lilly." I lied practically. I couldn't help but notice that as I said it, a slight pang seemed to stab my chest.
I think it might have been the first time I had ever lied to my best friend.
He stopped tugging on my feet, dropping them as if they were hot. "Oh." A flash of confusion followed by hurt crossed his face, but I could tell he was making an effort to hide it. "Ok then. I guess I'll just see you at school then."
He pulled on a forced smile, and I concentrated on staring at his forhead so I didn't have to look him in the eye. I only nodded.
Still smiling, he leaned over to kiss me, before heading out the door. The taste of his lips seemed to linger on me for slightly longer than usual as I watched him walk away, hands slung into his pockets. A minute later, I heard his car pull out of the driveway.
Sighing, I pulled out my cellphone. Punching in the numbers, I tried to ignore the fact that I had lied to Conner, just because I didn't want to ride in a car with him. We have been riding to school together practically every day since kindergarten, and I had broken the streak because I felt something entirely new with Conner, that I had never felt before.
I didn't trust him.
"Hello? " Lilly's voice broke my train of thought.
"Hey Lil, can you give me a ride?"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Stepping out of Lilly's black punch-buggy, I immediately looked around for Conner. Alex and Lilly had giving me curious looks the entire way there, but knew better than to ask if I had a fight with Conner. Still, they seemed to sense that something was off with me.
Linking arms with me on both sides protectively, they guided me like a lost puppy towards the school, ignoring the curious glances and whispers from people wondering why I wasn't with Conner right now.
A rather attractive blond walked by slowly, giving us a very appreciative look over. "Hey babes."
Alex promptly flicked him off.
I was wishing that Conner was here to beat him up, like he always did to perverted boys who sexually harassed us with their eyes.
As if on cue, Conner sprinted into view, stopping in front of me with a huge smile on his face.
"Hey S! It was so weird not riding to school with you, but I'm sure you had a good reason." He gave a pointed look to the people watching nearby, silently telling them to mind their business.
He was still showing no signs of being caught spying on me, and was acting perfectly natural, so I figured that I would just go along with him until we were in a more private place to talk about it.
I smiled as I unlinked my arms with my female friends and wrapped them around his neck. His arms immediately went around my waist, his head coming down to rest in the crook of my neck. The hairs on my arms rose as his nose brushed across my neck, but other than that it was a strictly 'friend hug'. (As to not give watchers a new gossip topic.)
"Hey Con." I tried to sound casual as we pulled away, but was unsure whether it was successfully.
The bell rang before he could respond, and Lilly and Alex gave me a thumbs up over their shoulders as they rushed away.
Conner gave me a fluorescent smile that made my knees go weak, securing my waist again in his arm as we started walking. I looked around, realizing that everyone was inside, no doubt hurrying to get to class. Smiling, I kissed his cheek, before resting my head on his shoulder.
And arm in arm, we walked into school, not the least bit worried that someone will catch us being a tad more than friendly.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The bell rang, signaling lunch time. Students poured into the courtyard, going to their acclaimed tables and various cliques with a buzz of chatter.
Alex, Lilly and I moved to sit under our tree, where Conner was already lounging. Sitting down, Conner shot me a wink that made my pulse speed up. I distractedly looked through my bag for my lunch, until I heard an uncertain voice.
"Ummm, excuse me? I'm new to this school, and was wondering if I could maybe sit with you." I looked up, and saw that it was the cute blond from the parking lot.
"No way in hell lover-boy." Alex shot daggers at him.
"Loverboy?" He echoed.
"Yeah." Lilly chipped in. "You practically undressed us with your eyes this morning."
"He did what?" Conner glared.
"Oh." He actually smiled. "I think there's been a little mix up." He looked over his shoulder to where he was flirting shamelessly with a slutty red head.
Wait, what?
"That's Jerry, my idiot twin brother." He explained.
Ohhhhhhhhhh. Now that I thought about it, Jerry had much brighter blond hair, and brighter blue eyes. But something told me this twin was still much brighter.
"I'm Tom." He smiled.
"Oh." Alex said, putting on her flirt face now that she knew he wasn't the same guy as this morning. "In that case, please do sit down."
Tom sat down in between Alex and Lilly, and Lilly scooted closer to me uncomfortably.
"Wait." I said. "Your parents named you Tom and Jerry?" Lilly choked on her laughter, but Conner was still giving him a suspicious glare.
Tom sighed. "Yeah."
One glance at Alex and Lilly, and we all burst out laughing.
Tom hid his face in his hands. "I'm never going to live this down, am I?"
"Nope." Alex said, sill clutching her middle while she laughed.
Conner was stonily silent the entire time.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I was walking toward the exit, to watch Conner during his soccer practice. Tom turned out to be a pretty cool guy, and was in my history class. Alex was constantly attempting to flirt with him, and he continued to politely brushed it off, so I figured he couldn't be that bad. But I couldn't help but notice how he kept sneaking glances towards Lilly, who was being unusually silent.
Naturally, Conner had not been nearly as fond of him.
My hand was on the schools front entrance door, when someone touched my arm.
"Hey Selena."
Turning around, I saw Travis smiling at me, looking as hot and blond as ever now that he wasn't wearing a sweater vest.
"What?" I asked blandly, giving him a bored look.
He looked over his shoulder nervously, as if he expected Conner to jump out a stab him at any given moment. "Can we talk?"
Shrugging, I let him pull me down a hall and around the corner, which was completely deserted by now.
"So." He started, peering at me confidently with his shiny grey eyes. "How's life?"
I rolled my eyes, not even bothering to respond.
"Kay then, down to business. Listen. I know you don't like me very much, but I think I kind of like you. I only made you go on a date with me, because you seem like a really great girl, and I'd really like to get to know you more. I just though I should tell you that, before our date on Sunday."
My jaw dropped open. He had blackmailed me to go on a date with him, because he liked me? I wasn't quite sure whether to be flattered or offended. He was cute, nice enough, and though I hate to admit it, quite charming. Chances were, that if he had just asked me I would have agreed, as long as Conner didn't scare him off. But I never would have pinned him to be one for blackmail.
This kid has some serious issues.
For once though, I was glad that Conner wasn't here. Because if he had found out that Travis liked me, and got me to go on a date with him, he would pulverize the poor britt into a pulp. And suspension was not the best way to solve our current problem. Conner had always been over-protective of me when it came to guys. He glared at any guy who attempted to flirt with me, and any who were brave enough to ask me out, weren't brave enough to handle Conner's interrogations.
At this rate, I was going to be alone forever.
"Well news flash, Britt, blackmail is not the best way to get a girl to like you." And with that I turned around and walked away, and headed out to the soccer field.
He didn't try to stop me as I stormed through the parking lot, earning a few curious glances from people.
By the time I had reached the field, I was late, because the boys were already running around on the field. I plopped on the bleachers, in my usual spot, trying to pick out Conner from the rest of the team.
I recognized him by his all over the place black hair, (which was totally hot to girls, though I'd never tell him that).
He was dribbling the ball across the field, several paces faster than the guys running after him. With a kick that was worthy of a slow-mo replay, the ball zoomed across the rest of the field, slamming into the goal with perfect aim.
Show-off.
Conner wiped sweat off his brow, before finally spotting me on the bleachers. He raised one hand at me, sending me another charming smile. I can't help but smile back as I rolled my eyes.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"You're just jealous of my amazing athletic abilities."
"Yeah right! I could be athletic if I wanted to be!"
"No you couldn't! You suck at pretty much everything that requires movement!"
"Are you calling my fat?"
"No!"
"That's not what I heard."
"When did the word fat leave my mouth?"
"There's really no need to be bitter! Just because you suck at life-"
"Awww come on. I made five perfect shots!"
"I only counted four."
"Well that's because you weren't there for the first one."
"Suuuurrree." I rolled my eyes again.
We were driving home in Conner's over-rated red car, him driving, still in his soccer uniform, and me riding shotgun, trying not to think about Travis.
"Why were you late anyway?" He looked over at me briefly, before turning back to look at the road.
I shrugged my shoulders, looking out the window.
And Conner, my completely trusting best friend, let it slide.
When we pulled in at my driveway, Conner magically read my mind and decided to stay awhile. Together, we walked up to my front door, a perfectly normal pair of best friends, on a perfectly normal day.
That is, until I tripped.
My foot caught on something and I plummeted to the ground like a sack of dictionaries. My exposed legs and arms scraped on the pavement, and my skin began to sting. Lifting one arm, I saw that I was bleeding before I felt the actual pain.
The thing about pain, is that you feel it more when you slip outside your house on the sidewalk, than when you jump off a roof onto you best friends trampoline.
(FYI- NOT A GOOD IDEA)
What? I was seven, and it was a dare.
Well anyway, Conner immediately scooped me up like an injured kitten, carrying me bridal style in his arms as if I weighed nothing.
"Klutz." He teased, though I could tell he was already looking over my arms and legs to check for blood.
I smacked his arm, instantly regretting it as my arm started to sting a little more.
"You're bleeding." His voice was full of concern.
I rolled my eyes. "Thank you Captain Obvious." I started to squirm, trying to get my feet back on solid ground. But didn't seem to have any effect on Conner.
"You're welcome Lieutenant Sarcasm."
He walked me, (still trying to get down), to the front door. "Do you have the keys?"
"Yeah." I answered casually.
There was a moment of silence before he responded. "Well can I have them?"
"Ohhhhhh! No."
He sighed. "Oh come on! How are we supposed to get in if you don't give me the freaking house keys?"
"Put me down." I crossed my arms over my chest stubbornly.
"But you're hurt!"
"So?"
"Pleeeaaasssee?" He pouted with his extremely kissable lips.
"Nope." Even the puppy dog face wouldn't work. I absolutely hated being carried. It made me feel small and weak, like a little kid who fell off of the swings.
"What if I make it worth your while?" His green eyes gleamed.
That got my attention.
"How so?" I inquired and raised my eyebrows.
Instead of responding, he leaned down to lightly kiss me, sending a parade of fireworks running up my spine to my brain, where I was currently feeling the sparks. A tidal wave of lust would have knocked me off my feet if I wasn't being carried.
When he pulled back, his handsome grin was on. He had quite literally, left me wanting more. I reached into my back pocket handing him my keys. "My bedroom?"
Nodding and smiling, he opened the front door and stepped inside. "After we get you cleaned up." I had completely forgotten about falling, all I was thinking about was Conner.
"After what?"
Conner froze. That wasn't my voice.
We turned around, me still in his arms, until we were facing the living room, where my brothers were currently lounging on the sofa.